bang bang
bang bang is an ordeal. Built on a relentless repetition of jumps and athletic motifs counted in 11, it demands exceptional focus and physical commitment from its performers. Gradually, this demand reveals their combativeness, their resilience, but also the flaws of the human performer. This two-person version adds the idea of experiencing the ordeal together, combining each performer’s strengths and weaknesses.
Precision meets exhaustion. Over the course of 50 minutes, the performers’ identities dissolve. Continuing to jump becomes at once absurd, poetic, and political.
Created in 2017, the solo bang bang is being brought back in the form of a duo.
Choreography: Manuel Roque
Performance: Nils Levazeux and Manuel Roque
Costumes: Marilène Bastien
Soundtrack: Manuel Roque
Artistic consulting and rehearsal direction: Lucie Vigneault
Lighting design and LX consulting: Karine Gauthier and Olivier Chopinet
Production: Cie Manuel Roque
Touring executive production: DLD
Development: DLD
This project (solo version, 2017) received support from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec,
the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Conseil des arts de Montréal.
This project (solo version, 2017) is a co-production of the Festival TransAmériques (FTA).
Manuel Roque. Manu is a contemporary dance choreographer and performer based in Montreal (Tiohtià:ke - Mooniyang). His creations explore the interplay of sensitive, somatic, athletic, poetic, and political spaces. bang bang (a solo created in 2017 and transformed into a duet in 2024) won both the Performer Award and the Choreographic Work Award at the Prix de la Danse de Montréal in 2017. His interest in the body in motion is rooted in the concepts of integrity, curiosity, and meditative attention. In his works, rigor coexists with gentleness; musicality is expressed through a keen sense of nuance; and the generosity of physical engagement is grounded in kindness toward oneself and others.
More about Manuel Roque at La CalderaMonday april 27th, 8pm